Motorola Moto 360 Review

Motorola launched its smartwatch Moto 360 last year and in no time, it set a benchmark for the Android Smartwatches with Moto 360. It was among the few smartwatches that comes with a round display, metal finish and overall premium design. It was probably the only smartwatch that looked like a watch. The Moto 360 (2nd Gen) retains almost everything good about its predecessors and improves on its shortcomings.

Image Source: Lesterchan

Taking cue from the Apple Watch, the Moto 360 (2nd Gen) comes in two different sizes – 46 mm and 42 mm – for men, which come with 22 mm and 20 mm bands respectively. There’s another 42 mm version for women that comes with a thinner 16 mm band. Then there are options for bezel colors and straps. Everything said, the Moto 360 (2nd Gen) is perhaps the most customizable Android Wear smartwatch.

Image Source: Android Origin

In terms of Design, Motorola has made some crucial changes. The crown has now been shifted from the 3 ‘o clock position to slightly higher at 2 ‘o clock position which makes it more user friendly. They have also changed the band lugs, which makes it easy to change bands. Also you can now use standard bands as well.

The Moto 360 (2nd Gen) comes with IP67 rating for water resistance. This is essentially to ensure the watch doesn’t stop functioning when you get caught in a sudden downpour or from sweat.

The display of Moto 360 (2nd Gen) is much sharper now. The 42 mm variant comes with a 1.37-inch 263 ppi (360×325 pixels), while the 46 mm features a 1.56-inch 233 ppi (360×330 pixels) display. The colors are punchy and visible even under sunlight. There’s even a setting where the display isn’t on at all times, that helps the battery to end nearly two days of usage.

Image Source: Android Authority

The only drawback of 2nd Gen Moto 360 is that it doesn’t have a full circular just like the earlier version. The display is cut off at the bottom where the light sensor and display connectors are located. You won’t notice it if you have a black watch face but gets annoying in the rest of the UI.

Motorola 360 (2nd Gen) is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 processor that comes with 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. You will notice that things are now comparatively faster when you open apps or notifications.

In terms of UI, it is quite similar to any other Android Wear smartwatch. However, There are a couple of dials that offer customization options to add more widgets like world clock, weather, step count, calendar and others. The implementation is quite similar to what Apple calls ‘complications’.

Image Source: Android Authority

The Moto 360 (2nd Gen) can work with the iPhone as well but the functionality is limited. You will get notifications but you can’t act on them. For iPhone users, the Apple Watch still remains the only smartwatch worth considering.

The Moto 360 (2nd Gen) also comes with wrist gestures where you can flick your wrist to scroll between notifications. While Google had announced Android Wear support for circular displays, the implementation is not perfect. The UI elements in apps still feel out of place at times.

Motorola has priced the Moto 360 (2nd Gen) starting from Rs 19,999 for the 42 mm men and women variants for the leather band and Rs 22,999 for the metal band. The 46 mm men’s variant is priced at Rs 23,999.

If you are in the market for a premium Android Wear smartwatch that lasts for more than a day on a single charge, the Moto 360 is perhaps the only one that we would recommend you . If style statement is not something important, then there are many cheaper Android Wear smartwatches out there.